"It's surely been a while, Osomatsu-kun!" Totoko clapped her hands together in what seemed to be enthusiasm, and Osomatsu could see the amount of rings that decorated her fingers, and the amount of colorful bracelets dangling from her arms. "I was getting bored of our neighborhood and wanted to take a lovely stroll, only to find out Chibita-kun hasn't opened in days! And Iyami-san hadn't been going to pachinko parlors and horse races! And you, of course! You parents told me that you left the town for a journey of self-discovery out in the big city!" She then giggled. "So I decided to follow too! Friends should stick together, hm? People said that Chibita-kun and Iyami-san left the town with you, so your parents have nothing to worry about!"
This Totoko-chan seems.. oddly chipper. More energetic than our Totoko-chan, that's for sure.
"Oh, um, yeah." Shit, he hadn't told Oso's parents about himself, because he didn't want the alternate versions of his parents freaking out at the thought of their only son being missing. He briefly forgot that the Iyami and Chibita he had been travelling with weren't the real ones he befriended in the past, but they were the friends of Oso. Totoko was grinning cattily at him, expecting him to say something at her arrival. "Um, nice to see you here too, Totoko-chan. I guess you got an invitation too-"
"Of course!" She interrupted cheerily. "I was working when my boss just drops in and gives me a letter. I made sure I looked absolutely stunning before dropping in here, after all! Masquerade balls are absolutely fun!" She giggled again. What was with girls and giggling? Osomatsu would have found it cute if they weren't in the same place as where a murder would probably take place. "Enough about me, Osomatsu-kun! I know you missed me, but we'll talk about me later! Who are those gentlemen behind you?"
Osomatsu realized they were all still wearing their masks, so maybe that was the reason Totoko didn't question why Kara and Jyushi looked like Osomatsu; she couldn't see their faces. Jyushi shied away and hid behind Osomatsu the moment Totoko noticed him, and Osomatsu chuckled in amusement. "Ah, Totoko-chan. These are my friends that I met in the city. This guy's name is Kara. He's a really nice guy. He has a roommate, maybe I'll introduce him to you later."
"Nice to meet an accomplice of a dear friend of mine." Kara smiled and extended his hand towards Totoko, who shook it. "As Osomatsu said, my name is Kyabarie Kara. It's a pleasure to meet a lady as lovely as you, Yowai-san."
Talk about a smooth talker. You're not so different from Karamatsu after all, Karat Cake.
Totoko blushed a bit at his supposed compliment, but giggled in reply, letting go of Kara's hand and covering her mouth with it. She seemed happy that her childhood friend has made a friend such as Kara! Osomatsu was glad she seemed to be enjoying herself. "It's nice to meet you too, Kara-kun! I'm Yowai Totoko, Osomatsu-kun's childhood friend! But please, call me Totoko-chan. It's fine with me, Kara-kun!" She smiled brightly at Jyushi, who hid behind Osomatsu even more. "Oh! And who is this cute little shy guy?"
Jyushi must be afraid of girls, Osomatsu thought. He was amused that Jyushi was burying his face at Osomatsu's back, holding tightly onto his blazer so he wouldn't fall, but was still trying his best to hide himself from Totoko. Osomatsu chuckled. Jyushi's eyes were covered by the mask, and that practically meant half his face was covered! What was left there to cover, his mouth? "His name is Jyushi. He's really sweet, but I guess he's a bit shy. He can't walk on his own too. C'mon Jyushi. Say hello."
Totoko looked really pretty, Jyushi couldn't deny that. He found all girls pretty after all. But there was something about her that seemed a bit off. Jyushi had read her file before, since it was his job to read the files of the citizens at Akatsuka, but somehow.. there was something wrong with Totoko. Jyushi didn't know, and that kind of scared him. The files were correct in every single detail, but there was something about Totoko that didn't seem right, something that went against her file.
Still, he peeked from Osomatsu's shoulder and smiled brightly in return, trying to make his voice cheery so he didn't upset either Totoko or Osomatsu. "Hi hi! My name is Suuji Jyushi, nineteen years old! I like sweets.. and cats! I like cats a ton! Um, nice to meet you, Totoko-san!"
"Heehee! It's nice to meet you too, Jyushi-kun!" Totoko extended her hand towards him, and the yellow-eyed male shook it with his long sleeve. She looked at his sleeve-covered hand for awhile before chuckling, and Jyushi suddenly pulled away and hid behind Osomatsu again. "You're an interesting one, Jyushi-kun. Hiding your hands?"
"Hey, Totoko-chan.." Osomatsu noticed Jyushi didn't seem like he wanted to talk to her, and Osomatsu didn't like seeing Jyushi so uncomfortable. She wasn't that scary, so why was he scared of her? Nonetheless, Osomatsu needed to talk to him about this issue. Ichi might see Totoko as a threat if he sees how scared Jyushi is around her. And he certainly did not want to see Ichi stab Totoko with a katana, Totoko was a precious friend, his dimension's or not. "Er, did you see Iyami? I think he's over there looking for something interesting to happen, so why don't you talk to him too? I think he'll be glad to see you."
Totoko blinked, before scowling. "Oh. So he's here as well. Ugh, did you know that Iyami-san owes me, like, a lot of money? He's lucky that he became my temporary manager, so I gave him a bit of a discount. But still, he owes me money-"
"Kara, I think we should see how the others are doing outside." Osomatsu gave Totoko an apologetic look. "Uh, I'll talk to you later, Totoko-chan. Jyushi's brother must be looking for him now, and Kara's friend is outside. So, uh.. have fun."
"Wait-"
Totoko watched as Osomatsu suddenly carried Jyushi with one arm, and grabbed Kara's wrist with the other. Totoko was impressed by how strong Osomatsu was, especially since he didn't seem to be doing much the past few years, with the exception of pachinko and betting on horses! Without anything else to say to his childhood friend, Osomatsu left the lobby in a rush, dragging a stumbling Kara with him.
...
When Lonely finally regained his composure, he pulled the sword out of the ground in an instant. Ichi was now talking to the phone and demanding Tougou's file to be delivered, while Todo was watching him, Lonely, with what seemed to be worry in his eyes. Even as Ichi yelled into the phone as if he had authority (which he did), Todo didn't spare him a glance and just focused on Lonely as he breathed heavily and tried to collect his thoughts all together. It wasn't safe for anyone to be holding a sword, especially if their mental state was a train wreck.
Still. Todo tried to talk to him, Lonely's discarded mask on his hand. He wans't the best when it came to things like these, but.. he at least had to try. "Lonely-"
"That man has hurt so many people, Katsuna Todo." Lonely didn't want to hear any false assurances. He wanted to stay true to himself. No more sugar-coating. "I could not even remember how many! I don't even know if he started out with my parents.. but I'll tell you one thing I am sure about him." He turned to Todo, trying his best to prevent any more tears from falling. He wasn't weak. He was strong, and that's why he would never, ever shed a tear. Never again. "He taunts me. More than once."
Ichi was still busy yelling into his phone, so Todo was the only one that was taken aback by Lonely's statement. "Why the fuck would he taunt you?" Wasn't killing Lonely's parents enough? Did Tougou have to rub it in his face? "..How do you even taunt a kid whose parents you killed?! That's fucked up.. does he know you, then?"
"Of course he does. Hell, he had been looking for me when he killed my parents. But he left my house as soon as he finished them off.. and that was his mistake, not getting rid of me." He clicked his tongue, pacing around. It was his way of calming himself. "But if you' are asking if he knew me as a child.. no. He only met me when I tried to confront it." At Todo's expression, he huffed. "He's a criminal. He'd be all over the news, would he not? And I don't know if it was only me who ever felt as if.. it was unfair, to strike fear into the hearts of people." Great. He was tearing up again, wasn't he? "Especially since it was a dream of mine to spread happiness.. but I guess it wouldn't be too bad mixing both of those.. right?"
"But why did you decide to take matters into your own hands?" Lonely was surprised that Todo wasn't as stupid as he thought he was, since he finally caught on. Todo's arms were crossed, and he wasn't looking at Lonely directly. But he was scowling. "You.. how old were you when you decided to just up and be Batman or some shit? You just took matters into your own hands.. facing off some psycho all on your own.. tell me, did you at least have a bit of your sanity when you decided to do this?"
"..I was only fifteen at that time." Lonely muttered. He was absolutely sorry if he was going to give Todo a heart attack from the truth. "It was when I already had the skills necessary. I was smart. I could do tricks. And I was taught how to build simple gadgets.. my hang glider, for example. And.. well, managing to destroy dummies with a sword was my specialty. And.. it payed off. It really did. Think of it as.."
"A superhero? Isn't that what your job basically is?"
"...Maybe."
"It is. No use covering it up, Lonely." Todo had seen weird shit and had heard all sorts of bullshit ever since he met Osomatsu. From the amount of times Jyushi and Ichi got assassinated, to Lonely being what seemed to be a real-life superhero. "..How many times have you guys faced off?"
"..The first time I actually managed to catch up to him was when he murdered an accountant and was cleaning up the crime scene. I declared war onto him, and he laughed at me.. I'm pretty sure it was because I was wearing this outfit and was holding a sword. I probably looked"
Okay, let's be honest. With a stupid outfit and mask, as well as a fucking sword and hang glider, who wouldn't laugh at you? I'd be impressed if you weren't such an idiot. Who the fuck decides to be a fucking creature of the damn night?!
"So I tried attacking him with a sword.. and he blocked it.. with a knife." Lonely took a good look at his rapier. "..I think it would be pretty safe to say that I nearly died that night. But we managed to wake up the people nearby with the noises our weapons were making.. and I fled the scene first. Because if I let him go first, people would assume it was I who had caused the murder, correct? And.. he was fast to escape as well. People saw the dead body and started freaking out, naturally." He looked up at the sky again. "..This kept on for years. Up until now. And I'm pretty sure he started considering me as his rival."
"Dude." Todo looked at him seriously. "Don't you just realized what you've just done?"
Lonely blinked. "Come again?"
"He murders people for his own sick hobby, that's the only thing we know about him. But the fact that you face him off countless times, and I'm pretty sure both of those times ended up in ties.." He blinked. "You.. if he's a fucking maniac, who's to say that he doesn't just kill for his hobbies?! What if.. what if he's killing people just to get your attention so he can fight you?!"
Lonely's eyes suddenly widened. Todo.. he was just thinking about this too much, wasn't he?
"Think about it.. he's a maniac. He'd kill people for his own hobbies, and judging by the fact you were the only one to have the courage to face him.. there is a pretty fucking high chance that he not only just killed for his own sick hobby.." He took a deep breath, pacing around in a manner similar to Lonely's. "Lonely.. what if.. he continued to kill.. because you were the only one able to match him? You were his only equal? Oh my fuck, if he did that, then that means.."
I.. had fallen right into his trap..? Then that means.. the death of some of the individuals.. and Jyushi's planned assassination.. is all.. my fault?